Hello, I just sold my motorcycle and want to buy a Jeep. I have a 2003 Sport 4.0 automatic that looks pretty stock with soft top and hella lights on the bumper. Asking price is 11500. It has 52K miles. I want to be able to turn on to any dirt road in the Sierra Nevadas (well some of them at least) and get to where I want to go.

Is this a decent price and what would you recommend I do to it? I know I want a lift and tires 1st thing but I still have to drive it in the city and get the 5 hours to the dirt roads.

welcome to the forum. Just to give you an idea i paid $9,000 for an 2001 sport that had 60,000 miles on it and was pretty much stock so the price for the 03 sounds about right, might check with Kelly blue Book and see what they price it at although that doesn't always apply to jeeps. As far as lift and tires you might look at a 2inch lift with 32x11.50 tires, that is a good setup for a daily driver and will get you in and out of lots of places offroad.

The price seems just a tad high. But most private parties do that on purpose (I know I always do).

I guess the biggest mistake I ever made when I bought my first jeep was the axle issue. If you ever plan on bigger tires (33's or bigger) and want to lift it and all the things that go along with it, check the rear axle. If it's roundish looking and has a rubber fill plug, it's a D35 which is fine for daily use and stock level offroading but has been know to fail with big tires and hard use. A octogonish shape with a metal (hex) fill plug is a D44 and is much more reliable for hard offroad use and can be built to suit you use (adding a locker or such) without spending big $$$ to "get there".

So, what do you want to do long term and can you negotiate the price a bit and will you be happy?

Thank you both for the information. I do know that the one I am looking at has the D35 rearend. Now that I know about the rearend I think it maybe a deal breaker. I was thinking I would put at least 33's on it and I do not want to have to deal with rearend issues...